It is not possible to run Garuda with Garuda Talons only, and no guns equipped

[SteveCutler]

As we all know, Warframe does not let you have no weapons equipped. You must have at least one weapon equipped, whether that's a primary, secondary, or melee weapon. When you have one weapon left equipped, and try to change that weapon, the "Empty" slot does not show up anymore. That's all fine.

Now, Garuda has a unique mechanic where if you have no melee weapon equipped, you get Garuda's Talons as your melee weapon instead. This is not an Exalted weapon. It does not cost any energy to use. It's a real melee weapon, just like any other. Unfortunately, Warframe doesn't consider Garuda's Talons when deciding if you have a weapon equipped or not. If you try to remove both your primary and secondary, the game won't let you, as the "Empty" slot will not show up.

I can run a mission with only a Skana equipped. I can not run a mission with only Garuda's Talons equipped.

In other words, while using Garuda's Talons, you are forced to also equip a gun. I consider this a bug, as it doesn't make sense and isn't consistent with how the game behaves with any other weapon.

[Dawn_Felstar]

Does not sound like a bug, sounds more like a limitation of the equipment system as you are required to have at least one weapon and the system doesn't detect Garuda's Talons as an equipped weapon. To be honest, it probably will require quite a bit of work to make it so you can only have Garuda's Talons as they would also need to check that you have a weapon equipped before you switch frames.